Smoke in the Trees [open]

"Thanks," he meowed, his voice muffled by feathers as he landed on the ground, feeling his body relax with the stable dirt once again beneath him. He always wondered how things would have turned out if he hadn't fallen from that tree those moons ago - would he be far more comfortable in the trees to the point where he would rarely touch the ground? It was hard to say, the fear felt like a true part of him now. He had wrestled with it for so long, the idea of it just suddenly not existing felt foreign and unnatural.

He shook his head, pulling his thoughts back to the present as he padded over to depose of his robin with his squirrel. He took a step back to admire his two catches, before he took in a deep breath to try to sniff something else out. He padded along the outskirts of the small clearing, careful not to stray to far until he finally spotted a vole scurrying in the undergrowth. He dropped into a crouch, carefully stalking it and with a simple leap, caught and killed it. With another kill under his paws, he happily picked it up and padded over to where he had left his other two catches. "You think we are good?" he asked once he had dropped the vole and he had spotted Smokefeather again. "Might be hard to carry things back with just the two of us if we catch too much.

Smokefeather noticed how the older warrior visibly relaxed when his paws were safely on the ground. She couldn't imagine being afraid to climb trees, given that was something she enjoyed more than most Skyclan cats, it seemed. She kept quiet about it, however. It wasn't her place. And his fear wasn't irrational.

"Yeah, I think this'll be fine." Smokefeather agreed, moving to pick up her other bird. Feathers tickled her nose, and she fought a sneeze as she turned to Foxfire, whiskers twitching. "If we'd caught anymore we' might wind up making extra trips. It's too hot for that." She commented wryly.

Foxfire nodded, a laugh escaping him as he bent down to drag out his other two catches. "That's very true. I think I might enjoy a nice nap in the shade once we get back to the camp, try to escape the heat a little." It took a moment to try to figure out how he was going to carry his three catches back. He picked up the robin carefully by one wing, taking a couple tries to toss it over his back until both wings were resting on either side. Then, he simply picked up the squirrel and the vole by their tail as he turned toward the warrior. "Okay, I think I got it! Come on, I think I might hear our nests calling our names," he purred as he trotted past, taking the lead...Although he was careful to keep his pace slow enough that he wasn't about to lose the bird from where it was balanced.